U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,138 discloses a compact printer having an integral cut sheet feeder which is quite advantageous as a module for cooperation with personal computers in an office environment, e.g., because of its versatility and compactness. This printer features sheet feed from a supply station by the same platen member that transports the sheet through the printing region, where, for example, an ink jet printing carriage scan prints successive lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,669 discloses a highly useful sheet supply station for use in printers of the kind described in the '138 patent and also discloses one approach for separating top sheets from the supply stack and guiding them through the printer. The sheet separator of the '669 patent performs well, but has several disadvantages. Thus, the '669 patent approach requires considerable free paper length beyond, and space above, its top sheet buckler posts. Also, it has been found necessary in some applications to adjust the buckler posts for certain paper widths. In addition, it would be desirable to avoid contact between all feed/guide elements and any printed portions of fed sheets.